The archive is extensive and we aim to make many of these images available online.
*SEPTEMBER 2025 UPDATE*
There are now more than 17,553 images on the website including those on our Other Collections section. There are more images to see if you View our Articles section to read longer articles written by our volunteers on a range of historical subjects.
We have received a donation of Burco Dean archive material which has not yet been digitised for the website but you will find information about Burco Dean and a small selection of images on our Articles page.
We are now operating without the benefit of Heritage Lottery Funding and welcome donations to enable us to continue scanning negatives and making them available on the website. Donations can be made directly to us or via JUSTGIVING
Or scan our Just Giving account QR Code
BCTHIC is most thankful for the generous donations made by:
Burnley Rotary, Burnley Pendleside Rotary, Stocks Massey Bequest Fund, Celeste & Kevin (in Canada) and other donors who have contributed to our funds to enable this project to continue after our Heritage Lottery funding ceased.
All funding contributions are gratefully accepted
We WELCOME NEW VOLUNTEERS and have vacancies on our Wednesday and Thursday afternoon sessions. If you can spare a couple of hours why not contact us and arrange a visit to the archive. All that is needed are some basic computer skills and an interest in local history. PENDLE AND WEST CRAVEN images can be found in the Surrounding Districts pages and we would welcome volunteers from the Pendle area to digitise images and stories about this area as we have no volunteers working on this area at the moment.
We have produced a short history about the project which you can download.
50 Years Ago
Children at Dale Street, Padiham Road may now play freely on the new-laid grassland instead of on the unattractive wasteland which was once there.
It seems that spring has sprung in parts of Burnley for the first time in many years. Several patches of land in the Whittlefield Street and Padham Road area have been given a seasonal look, probably for the first time since the Industrial Revolution - albeit a temporary face-lift. Due mainly to the M65 motorway scheme, derelict houses and bleak wasteland areas have been pulled down to give way to more attractive grassland. There are approximately six development areas in all, four of which are on Padiham Road, the rest being in the Whittlefield and Stoneyholme districts
Understandably, the greenery is a welcome alternative to rows of boarded-up houses, even though this look will soon disappear under the new motorway. For a long time now, the borough council has been working hard to improve these areas, and now with spring here the daffodils are blooming.
